


A Spoonful of Sugar

by ifwegettherebysunset



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pack, Pack Family, Vampire Atem, Vampires, We Don't Deserve Yusei Fudo, but y'all already knew that, just kidding it's not that cute, or Yugi Mutou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-04-23 18:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19156441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifwegettherebysunset/pseuds/ifwegettherebysunset
Summary: Yusei meets a strange vampire in need of blood. He helps him.Atem, who's gotten a little jaded over the years, can't understand why.





	1. Meet-Cute

**Author's Note:**

> I believe we are at 50 in the synchroshipping ao3 tag!!!!!!! Awesome job, guys!!!!!  
> (I mean, if we aren't, we're VERY CLOSE!)  
> We'll make this canoe a schooner yet :D
> 
> btw just in case: "Friendship Brigade" is just the short tag I use for the DM fam

"It's okay to act your age sometimes," his older colleagues say.

Yusei's looked them up. No one from Satellite. No one to understand that he can't "act" like he's twenty-four because he doesn't know  _how_.

"Youth is wasted on the young," he hears when he leaves the break room.

Yusei's been giving their version of youth away since he could walk. To him, it just means his body can handle less food and more work.

But they won't stop urging him to take a night off, and Yusei can't blame them. He looks at Rally and feels what they feel. It's strange to think of  _himself_ on the other side of that. Still, maybe it'll be fun.

When he requests to leave early on Saturday, they smile at his back.

He wonders if they'll smile now, with his throat in someone's teeth.

Willingly.

* * *

The vampire, whose name Yusei still hasn't gotten, moans in relief, and Yusei can't feel it. There's a vague  _something_ at the grayed edges of his awareness, but it's slumped with the rest of him against this stranger's shoulder.

Neo Domino's night life would cower under Satellite's. The only thing that'd surprised Yusei was how  _human_ this one looks. Maybe someone's done a study on vampiric decomposition. With his job at the head of Moment, he can access virtually any article he pleases.

Has he always breathed this loudly?

Claws are in his hair. They tickle. Hopefully they're not digging into his skull. Yusei'd seen plenty of that in Satellite. He can't recall anything specific through the haze, but he knows it's happened.

His arm is tingling. The first  _real_ feeling he's had since the vampire pulled him in. It strengthens into a steady burn.

It hurts the vampire. It doesn't hurt Yusei.

The world rushes back as if Yusei's tripped into it. Head―chest―dizzy―spinning―can't― _breathe_ ―

Focus. Focus.  _Focus_.

How many teeth on the tattoo's head? Count by two.

"Oh no―what have I―" 

The vampire shakes Yusei, hard enough to nearly give him whiplash. He's panicking, not noticing his strength.

"Are you alright? Stay awake!" A final lick up his throat. "I'll call an ambulance!"

Yusei blinks hard. "No. They'll...arrest you."

One lick, and he's healed. This is an old vampire. Powerful. They usually have a clan.

The vampire does hesitate. "I can't leave you like this."

Keep eyes open. "I live...close."

"Tell me where."

The last of Yusei's focus goes into slurring his address. The vampire scoops him up in a dizzying whirl and says he knows where it is.

"You...you can...go in," Yusei mumbles.

The vampire falters.

"Thank you."

Eyes open. Eyes open. Eyes...


	2. Choices

The garage is the centerpiece of the apartment, full of mechanical projects, empty mugs, and the occasional plastic cup of ramen. The human's scent weakens the farther Atem gets up the stairs.

He'd moved too fast for the cameras to pick up. Hopefully it hadn't jostled him.

Him. The young man who happened to walk out of a club and offer his blood to a stranger.

Atem slips into the apartment. Small, hardly lived in. No pictures on the walls but for a tiny frame featuring the human and five others. He has friends, loved ones. People who would miss him. And Atem nearly took all that away.

He grits his teeth and moves on.

There's a bedroom with a full-size bed, perfectly made. Atem lays the man down as gently as he can. He finds a chair from the cramped kitchenette and brings it to his bedside.

The least he can do is help him recover.

Fuck, why did he do that? Just. See Atem clawing at the wall and  _run up_ to him? Who in their right mind pulls their collar aside and says, "Here, take it"?

Atem is thousands of years old. He predates Stoker's nightmares, has walked with monsters who feed with detached heads. Not much surprises him.

Yet _this man_. Many have offered themselves to pay tribute, thinking he was some kind of deity, but this man did so simply out of kindness. Certainly Atem's clan, when they were human, did the same, but only after they'd become friends. He's never met this one.

He needs to know his name. He'd been so focused on getting in that he hadn't even looked at the keycard ID.

Atem looks in the wallet again.

And nearly drops it.

 _Fudo Yusei_. Everyone in Japan―in the  _world_ ―knows him. He's good at keeping his face out of the spotlight, but there's no hiding his father's name. He's revolutionized Moment and single-handedly ushered in a new age of alternative energy.

He's so  _young_.

Atem drops the wallet on the nightstand and puts his head in his hands.

* * *

Fifteen minutes pass before Atem hears them.

A whisper of wind, and he's opening the door by the garage.

Yugi gets to him first.

"We've been looking all  _over_ for you!" he cries, holding him tight. "Are you okay? What happened?!"

"This ain't your place," Jou adds.

"No," Atem says quietly, "it isn't."

Yugi pulls back. He and Anzu have the same piercing stare.

"Atem," Anzu says slowly, "What happened?"

Atem grips Yugi's elbows. The returning squeeze helps him think.

"One moment. I have to see if you can be invited in."

"Does it have to do with the half-dead guy up there?" Honda asks.

Atem swallows and heads back upstairs.

Yusei's eyes roll to him, half-lidded. His breathing is shallow.

Faintly, he asks, "Are you...okay?"

Atem  _doesn't understand_.

"Yes. Thank you. I don't know what I would've done―" Atem stops and sighs. "My clan is here to check on me. I understand if you want me to leave with them."

Yusei lets out a measured breath. "No. They can. Come in."

The vampires below hear the invitation. They're at Atem's back in seconds.

"He helped me," Atem explains quietly, keeping to the doorway. "Hunters managed to hit me with dead man's blood." Yugi takes his hand. "He saw me, and. He helped me."

"That's incredibly generous," Anzu says, "Thank you."

A faint smile sags on Yusei's face. "Of course."

"What's your name?" Yugi asks.

With a mild hiss, Yusei turns on his side. "Yusei. Fudo...Fudo Yusei."

Anzu and Yugi gasp. Honda makes a choked sound.

"No fuckin' way," Jou says. "You almost killed  _Fudo Yusei_?"

Atem flinches. "I haven't slipped in centuries. I don't know how to apologize."

Yusei moves his head a little. Trying to shake it, most likely. "Not your fault. Hunters."

Honda scoffs. "Probably still wanna get you on film, Atem. Best way to get the city to turn on you."

"But since Yusei came willingly, they didn't get anything," Anzu says. "You have no idea how much we owe you, Yusei."

"No," Yusei murmurs.

"You saved a clan leader," Jou replies, "Can't take no for an answer here."

Yusei says nothing. Just stares.

"We've bothered you enough," Yugi says at length, "Come on, guys. Let's give him some space."

* * *

Anzu starts by raiding the cabinets and going on a tirade about how empty they are. She declares she's going shopping, and Jou and Honda are going to help.

Atem sees what she's doing, and she knows he knows. She sends him a look before she drags the others out.

Yugi plops beside him on the couch.

Atem doesn't move. His elbows are on his knees, eyes on the floor.

"I know you don't think Yusei's right," Yugi says, "but he is. It's not your fault."

"How?" Atem snaps. Then, gentler, "How? I nearly killed him.  _I_ did that."

"I felt it, Atem." The name holds extra weight on Yugi's tongue, and he knows it. He'd been the first to find it after centuries of silence. It makes Atem listen. "We thought you went feral for a bit there. Like the kind people discovered in Satellite. Did you choose to do that?"

Atem starts. "What? No!"

"Did you force yourself on Yusei?"

"No, but―"

"Did Yusei not offer to help you?"

"Yugi, that's not―"

"You were  _shot_." Yugi's face is set. "Even you aren't invincible, and you know it. Yeah, it was a close call, but Yusei's still alive and you're still here. I'd say that's a win."

"I could have―"

Yugi grabs his hand. "You didn't. And you can learn from it." He smiles. "That's kinda what life is all about."

Atem looks at him. His favorite. Their bond is an organic thing, constantly pulsing like a heartbeat. Centuries of knowledge, and Atem still hasn't found anything like their connection. He hears Yugi's thoughts, feels how relieved and grateful he is that Atem's still sane. There had been real fear when the shot registered.

"I couldn't reach you," Yugi says softly. "I can  _always_ reach you."

Atem pushes reassurance. "I'll be alright. And...so will Yusei."

They share a tentative smile.

"Also, Yugi, life? I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but―"

" _Atem_."

They laugh. Atem sits a little straighter.

His eyes stray to the bedroom door.

"He has a strange tattoo."

Yugi tilts his head. "Tattoo?"

"It's what stopped me. When I drank too much, it burned me." Atem rolls up his shirt, showing where Yusei's arm had brushed him. "Didn't leave a mark, of course."

"Huh. Think he had it done special? Judai's done that for people."

"...maybe."

Yugi bumps their shoulders. "We can ask him."

"I've already asked enough of him."

"It'll be fine, Atem. He seems nice."

"I just wish I could do more to help him. A transfusion might turn him at this stage."

Yugi stands. "How about we give this place some TLC, then? It could use some airing out. Come on!"

And, well, he can't say no to Yugi.

* * *

Yusei's heart stops.

His tattoo―a red dragon's head―is glowing brightly enough to hurt vampiric eyes, but it doesn't stop Yugi or Atem from touching him.

Yugi tries CPR. Atem yanks out his phone to call an ambulance and damn the consequences. _He's_ _put_   _on hold_.

Slowly, his hand lowers.

"We'll have to run him over," Yugi babbles, "They'll―"

"Yugi."

"I know, but it's not working!"

" _Yugi_."

Atem's emotions register. They pull the same from Yugi, slumping him over Yusei.

"I can't let him die," Atem whispers, "I  _can't_."

"I know," Yugi replies, "I know."

The tattoo's glow fades.


	3. ...Helps the Medicine Go Down

Someone is kissing him.

It doesn't feel like Aki. She's warm and insistent, always biting roses into his lips. It's not Jack either though; he's always cold, like this person, yet he'd never just let Yusei sit back, and he never kisses without teeth. But it's nice.

Yusei opens his mouth. Something drips down his throat, thick and tangy. He swallows it just to keep kissing. Distantly, he realizes he hasn't been kissed in a while. That Aki left, then Jack.

An equally cold hand touches his cheek. The lips vibrate on a sweet sound. Their lips part a centimeter, then one of them leans in, again and again.

They keep going until Yusei falls back to sleep.

* * *

He wakes suddenly, choking on nothing.

Atem is there. Guilt exudes off him in waves.

It takes a moment of Atem murmuring that it's okay before Yusei figures out he  _smells_ the guilt. Twisted and too-sweet.

Jack used to say it's like cooked ramen left in the sun.

Slowly, Yusei takes in his room. The dark isn't an issue anymore. There's his wallet on the nightstand. His bookshelf, empty but for a photo of him, Crow, Jack as kids standing with Martha and a couple manga volumes from Crow. He can read the manga titles perfectly despite his near-sightedness.

"I..."

Atem's staring at his hands.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers, "I had to save you."

Yusei glances at his lips. There's a thrill in his gut, but he can't feel or hear his heart pick up. He suspects he can't blush either.

"You kissed me."

Atem starts. "I. It's." He swallows. "Yes. Most people...they tend to choke otherwise. I've learned from experience."

Yusei wonders if Jack would've kissed him too.

"I need to call someone," he says.

Atem nods. "I'll leave you. I'm. I'm  _sorry_."

Yusei gets up without difficulty, until his throat and stomach decide to nearly break his ribs.

"Yusei!"

Right. Thirst.

"Of course―here―"

Yusei downs the warm bottle. Blood really  _does_ still taste disgusting. But it's also so fucking  _good_.

Before a snarl's halfway out, he's given more.

He doesn't pant when he's done. Unless he wants to speak, he doesn't need to breathe anymore. 

Atem shakes the two bottles he'd switched between. Reusable, poured from a now-empty, stained gallon on the chair behind him.

"You needed an entire human's worth of blood. Don't worry―all from blood banks."

Yusei prods a new fang with his tongue. It aches slightly from its sudden growth.

"How long did it take?" he asks.

"One day."

Only one day. That's good. He'd only taken one personal day from work.

"Your phone's in your jacket."

Yusei retrieves it. Battery's dead.

As he opens his nightstand drawer to get the charger, Atem watches him carefully and says, "You're...taking this well."

Yusei plugs his phone in. "I grew up in Satellite. My friend was turned so we would have an easier time with human food." Atem starts. "He came back after three years. Stronger, faster. He carried us one by one through the garbage compactor in one try, and we reached Neo Domino."

"Your friend...is a vampire."

Yusei nods. "I need to call him. We made a promise. He wouldn't let me die, so he would be the one to turn me when it happened."

Atem's eyes widen. "And I..."

Yusei turns his phone on. "Yes. The mark I have was commissioned by him. I designed it."

"Meant to ward off others who took too much," Atem says. "Yusei, I..."

"No. It has two spells for that. The first was voided by my consent. The second only triggers when I'm dying, and it's not by Jack."

"Then he knows."

A myriad of texts and missed calls shake the phone. "Yes. He's overseas for a tournament."

"He  _was_ overseas," Atem says grimly.

Yusei sees the last, all-caps texts. "...yes."

Atem shakes his head. "If he wanted to be your Sire, he'll want to duel me for you."

Yusei eyes him. "Will he need to?"

"Of course not!"

"Then it'll be fine."

"Nothing about this is  _fine_ , Yusei!"

No. No it's not. But if Yusei thinks about how he'll never see the sun again far sooner than he wanted, he'll give into the panic that's been creeping up his stopped heart since the thirst took him.

So he says, "I'll call Jack," and keeps breathing as if he has to.

Atem's eyes are ancient. Hurt. The instinct to  _protect_ slaps Yusei.

"You didn't mean to," Yusei says.

"But it happened."

Atem's hand is neither warm nor cold. "I chose to feed you. I knew the risks."

"You knew the risks while you had that mark."

"It's not foolproof."

Atem yanks away. "But it should've been enough!"

It should have been, yes. Yusei's fed vampires before. Obviously this never happened when he did.

But vampires didn't fully emerge until after Moment's explosion. Society had crumbled. Humans were no longer completely dominant. All the vampires who fed from Yusei in the past were still young enough to be within a human lifespan.

Atem, however, radiates time and power. Every time he moves, Yusei wants to show his throat like a beta wolf.

He took too much, and Yusei's body couldn't handle it.

"I'll be here when Jack arrives," Atem says quietly.

"Where's your clan?"

"Home. I didn't want you to be overwhelmed―more than you would've been."

Yusei touches his shoulder before he leaves. "I forgive you. Please forgive yourself."

Atem's eyes shine. "Yusei...I've never met anyone like you." He swallows. "Your friends― _the city_ is fortunate to have you."

"I'm the one who's fortunate."

"No. I don't deserve your trust, but please believe me when I tell you that no human alive has a heart like yours."

He's squeezing Yusei's hand hard, but Yusei's bones don't break. Even if they do, they won't heal wrong anymore, or as slowly.

There's another thrill in his gut. "Thank you."

They stand like that for a beat, hands clasped. Atem opens his mouth to say something, then closes it and sighs.

"Call Jack."

* * *

The front door bursts clear of its hinges.

" _YUSEI_!"

Jack Atlas storms in, fists clenched, shoulders forward, fangs on full display. Yusei rises to intercept him when he sees―

" _YOU_!"

Atem's face is set. "Me."

"How  _dare_ you―"

"Jack," Yusei says, "it was an accident."

"An  _accident_?! How do you  _accidentally turn someone_?!"

"Old blood," Yusei replies.

" _Old_ ―" Jack jabs his finger at Atem. "You're _old_ and  _in a city_  but you still _took_ _too much_?!"

"Hunters and dead man's blood," Atem replies. He's carefully keeping his stance open. No challenge, like he said. "The folly of ancient blood is believing you're invincible."

"Spare me!" Jack snaps, "He's  _my_ clan!"

"Yes."

"So― _what_?"

Atem spreads his hands. "I had to wait until you arrived. Newborn vampires don't do well without a Sire, and you were still on a jet."

"I told you there wouldn't be a challenge," Yusei adds.

"Then why isn't he  _doing_ anything?!"

"If Yusei will allow me," Atem says.

Yusei stares at Jack.

Jack huffs and crosses his arms.

Atem cups Yusei's face, tilting him down. Their foreheads touch, and something in Yusei purrs.

Atem declares, "I revoke my claim as your Sire."

Yusei almost drowned, once. His friend Rally had gotten too close to the bay while they were scavenging. Neither of them knew how to swim, but Yusei went after him. With some frantic kicking, he got Rally to their friends before a current snatched him under.

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't see. Everything felt terrifyingly far away and so, so quiet. Yusei hated quiet. Couldn't do well without noise surrounding him, even if it was just a friend's breath.

He's drowning when Atem's claim leaves him. The panic finally breaks its dam. He knows he's still in his apartment, but he's not  _there_. He's not anywhere. He's not―

Thick, tangy―blood. Coming from flesh shoved into his mouth. He can taste the other vampire. His senses rush to take in the rest―he knows him, of course he knows him, but he can't  _see_ ―

"I didn't turn you," Jack,  _Jack_ , says fiercely, "but you've been my clan long before  _him_.  _I'm_ supposed to be your Sire. I claim you as such."

The words click like a padlock. The ground finally meets Yusei's feet.

Jack twists and embraces him. Yusei grips the back of his coat. There'll be bloodstains, but for once, Jack doesn't seem to care.

His best friend. Yusei's always felt comfortable around him, even when Jack returned with fangs, but now he could stay here, unmoving, for the rest of time.

"I wasn't there this time," Jack says, "There won't be a next time."

Yes. Yusei supposes he can't give his blood anymore. He can't do a lot of things anymore, really. But the things he  _can_ do are significant.

He feels them, like a song played around a corner. His clan. Jack, of course, is a present pillar, but there's Aki's thorns curling protectively, Crow's feathers soaring, with Rua and Ruka twirling through it all. Separated, but together.

Atem's clan had seemed nice, but Yusei knows he hadn't felt nearly as close with them.

Though...he did enjoy that kiss.

Yusei starts at the thought, and other things register. With the connection severed, Atem's presence is distinctly its own, and he hasn't moved outside of putting his hands down. The city hums, and if Yusei concentrates, he can hear individual conversations and cars. The panic has receded.

Jack pulls back to grip his arms and scrutinize him. He nods, satisfied.

"Did you finish the tournament?" Yusei asks.

"My final duel has been rescheduled. Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like an idiot."

Yusei smiles. "Thank you, Jack."

Jack scoffs and repeats, "Idiot."

"I should go," Atem says.

"Yes!"/"No."

Jack glares at Yusei.

"You don't have to," Yusei adds.

Atem shakes his head. "I've troubled you more than enough. It's only an hour until sunrise, anyway."

Yusei looks at the microwave clock. It's nearly three-thirty.

"It was an honor to meet you. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Yusei shakes his hand. "I'm still glad you're alright."

Jack pinches the bridge of his nose in a very Crow-like manner.

"Remember what I said," Atem replies.

Which gets Jack's interest. "What did you say?"

Atem leaves.

" _Yuse_ _i_! What did he tell you?"

* * *

There's a townhouse a couple streets away from a timeless game shop. The name reads  _MUTOU_ , and you don't need vampiric hearing to know there are happy people inside.

It's not long after sunset, so they're all still in. Atem, with his rich, ancient scent, is with them.

"Oo, your boyfriend's here!"

" _Jou_!" Yugi.

"What? You all saw 'em before we left! Puckered up real nice."

Yusei clears his throat.

"You  _do_ realize he can  _hear_ you now, right?"

"Doesn't sound like my problem, Anzu. Go on, Atem! Show 'em the goods!"

Atem's promptly pushed out the door before he can finish yelling Jounouchi's name. Even though Yusei's sure Atem has greater strength.

"Hello," Atem says.

"Hello."

"I...didn't expect to see you. How are you feeling?"

"Alright. You?"

"Well, thanks to you."

Yusei had thought about what he was going to say. Aki and Crow had given him pointers―some more helpful than others―but. Yusei doesn't really― _do_ this. And the situation―

"Yusei?"

Fudo Yusei, as an engineer, inventor, and Duel Monsters duelist, has had more "fuck it" moments than others may believe when looking at him.

This is one of them.

Yusei tries that kiss again.

It's only been three days, but he hasn't been able to stop thinking about it. Maybe it was because of the turning, but―Yusei knows to listen when his mind fixates on certain details. Atem's blood is not what it's been imagining.

Atem lets him relive it. The unhurried, savoring brushes and the long, melt-in-your-mouth sweetness. Yusei's vampiric senses taste Egypt's sands with the afterimages of the blood Atem just drank. It's strange, but like before, it's  _nice_.

"They don't need to breathe, either," Honda stage-whispers, "How convenient."

"Will you  _stop_ it―oh look, now you've done it!"

Yusei and Atem laugh because what else can they do?

"I'm leaving with Jack for his tournament tomorrow night," Yusei says at length, "We won't be back until next month. But I wanted to see you."

Atem smiles. "I'm―glad you did." He takes his hands. "Do you...want to go for a walk?"

He flinches, but Yusei's smiling back.

"I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya Jack's a vampire ayyy lmao
> 
> Googled it, and apparently the sun rises in Tokyo at around 4:25? So yeah
> 
> I do hope y'all liked this!! I adore creature aus so naturally a vampire au was pretty inevitable. I know the world-building might seem a liiiiittle stilted, but that's only because Yusei and Atem were p much flung into this whole mess of a situation. If you have any questions, do leave a comment! I'll do my best to answer :D
> 
> Until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> I have a Twitter now! Feel free to stop by! @sundayatsunset! :)


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